WE CAN LEARN A LOT FROM HAROLD HAGUE
At 99, this vet and retail icon has plenty of wisdom to share, writes Sherv Shragge.
“I had to learn to curl to keep my job,” says Harold Hague matter of factly.
Then a broad smile creases his face. “My boss, Bill Childs, needed a lead for the team he skipped, so I became lead.”
Bill Childs owned Loggie’s Shoes in Regina. It was just after the Second World War and Harold Hague was a new employee and a war veteran. So he joined the team and kept his job. Years later, Harold would buy the shoe store — and even got to like curling.
Come to think of it, “lead” is a pretty good word to describe the life of Harold, an influential local businessman who turned Loggie’s into a classy footwear shop for over 30 years. Now living in a retirement home with wife, Jan, Harold celebrates his 99th birthday this month.
Almost everyone in Regina knows Harold’s history. Joining the Royal Canadian Navy at age 17, shipped off to Saint-hyacinthe, Que. for signal and communications training, then serving in the Battle of the Atlantic on minesweepers and destroyers during the war. They were shepherding convoys of vital supplies to Great Britain.
We won’t review his service or biography in this space. This newspaper has done a marvellous job of that for years.
What I want to know is how Harold Hague views retirement and the advice he has for those starting out in the business world.
“Things have changed,” he says. Now, that’s the understatement of the year! Large malls, the swallowing up of the little guys by major corporations and online shopping all present a different approach to retailing, he says. The concept of the boutique shop and the way he used to merchandise has disappeared.
“We used to carry inventory of about 3,000-4,000 pairs of shoes. I don’t think they do that anymore,” says Harold.
Harold was a friendly presence in his shop. He could disarm you with his broad open face and smile. He understood what looking after a customer really meant. It was his attitude at the beginning of the sales experience right up until you left the store with a smile on your face. He wanted you back and you would return. “It’s a little too impersonal now” says Harold.
“There are pretty good reasons for that: staff turnover and lack of training in sales etiquette,” he says.
And what kind of advice would this legendary businessman have for the young upstarts? “Save!”
The word shot out of his mouth in an instant. “Save! Young people today don’t realize how important that is to achieve the kind of life they want. When you’re young, you don’t realize that the cost of living is always rising. You need more than you think! ”
My father had a similar attitude: “Too soon old ... too late shmart!” Sounds like solid advice and I think Harold’s contemporaries would agree. Harold Hague is the first to admit that aging takes its toll. He speaks now in a more halting and hesitant manner than he did just a few years ago.
“Everyone thinks they are going to live forever,” he says. “It doesn’t happen.”
Health and aging are constant companions of the human condition. “You learn to live with it” he says. Harold is one of those affable gentleman who has time for everyone and is pretty generous with it.
There is another reason I have a fondness for Loggie’s. It unknowingly played cupid for me. In the late 1970s, while staring into their windows at a pair of brown shoes, I saw the reflection of a pretty woman standing near me. That pretty woman became my lifetime partner. Ah well, we’ll save that for another day.
Sherv Shragge is a longtime Regina radio personality and journalist.
His column, After the Ball is Over, will appear monthly in the Leader-post.